Cooling apparatus



July 15 1924. y l f 1,501,416

A. D. LANE COOLING APPARATUS Filed Dec. 13 '1922 2 suena-sneer 1 July 15 1924.

A. D. LANE COOLING APPARATUS 2 Sheets-Sheet. 2

Filed Dec. 13, 1922 Patented July l5, 1924 UNi'rED STATI-:s

ALBERT D. LANE, or OAKLAND, cALrFonNIA.

COOLING APPARATUS.

Application led December Z'o all 'whom it may concem:

Be it known that I, ALBERT D. LANE, a. citizen of the United States, residing at 2204 41st Avenue, Oakland, in, the county of Alameda and State of California, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Cooling Apparatus, of which the following is a specification.

. This invention relates to a portable unit device for cooling, humidifying and otherwise treating the air in all places of human habitation, and at the same time, when desired, to appear 'as a highly decorative piece of furniture, so it can be placed andjoperated in 'expensively furnished rooms and apartments and be appropriate tothe surroundings. In the thorough and eliicient ventilation of residences, schools, stores, oiiices, theatres,

hospitals and other buildings, recourse 1 s usually had to electric fans and open windows, both of which are ellicient and practical at certain times and seasons, but which are at all times subject tothe limitations of existing conditions of temperature, winds and storms andwhich neither can in any manner chan cor modify.

In ventlatlng'rooms occupied by humans it is highly 'desirable that a certain tempera-- vture be maintainedand also equally desirable thatthe moisture content or humidity of.

` thek air be so regulated and apportioned that i a nearly constant degree of humidity be maintained.' This requirement 1s part1 .u'

larly desirable where steam or hot water heating plants are employed, since these systems do not ordinarily impart any moistureI Whatever to the air of a room, except at times when theair valves of steam radiators are opened, when usually too much moisture-` is given off so that it becomes detrimental to the glued joints and general finish of furniture, and since this plan is neither uniform or'constant it isl a highly impractical and undesirable method of humidifying the air.

Hot air furnace heating is better adapted to supply a sufficient moisture content tem, but-unless the furnace man or attendlant watchesv the water supply and keeps it fairly constant, even this method is inadeqate, since 'it'requires uite an enormous ramount of evaporation y this means to toA the air. passing through\the heating sys 1s, 1922. serial No. 606,753.

maintain a sufficient humidity and under varying conditions.

Specially constructed office and factory Vbuildin s and some theatres and other large institutions have been provided in their construction with adequate and sufcient means for washing, cooling, humidifying and otherwise treating the air as it is admitted to the various rooms and apartments, but heretofore, as far as m yknowledge goes,

there has been no portab e or semi-portable unit available for the use of individual residences or other buildings, not so provided in their structure, whereb the 4air entering these `places could be .coo ed, humidified or treated in any other manner as may be desired, therefore:

A principal object of my invention is to provide a ortable or semi-portable unit,

at all times that is sel contained and which can be placed in any room or apartment and which will forcibly circulate a Avolume of air through the device, and in contact with cooling and humidifying sprays of a lsuitable liquid, whereby the moving column of air absorbs moisture, and, due to the rapid evaporation of the misty sprays of liquid is considerably lowered in temperature by the time it` isv discharged. from the a paratus intothe room under the forced circulation, thus cooling and modifying and mainmanner desired.-

Another object of theinvention resides in providing an apparatus that will be taining the air conditions of the room in any articularly adapted for cooling and humidlify- 00' ing and otherwise treating the air in hospitals and jtheatres, using as a cooling and humidifying medium, disinfecting or other suitable liquids, which will tend to replace the hand spray devices now quite extensively used in these places. i n

-A constant supply of treated air from my device will ensure a thorough and regular' displacement of contaminated or stagnant air in 'any room orcompartmentin a very short period of time and re lace it with an ico exhilarating and fresh supp y exactlysuited d to the needs or conditions of the situation. v

Aside from the disinfecting features of the air ldelivered by my invention, it will most effectively act as lan insect dis eller.

Itis ,well known that certain o ors that I are very pleasant and acceptableto the human senses are very disagreeable and obnoxious to insects.

If the` cooling and humidifying medium is charged with some such odorous substance that is acceptable to the human senses and obnoxious to the insects, the circulating air will dispel all insects from the yroom or apartment so treated, and, with regular periodical agitation of the air in a room by this charged medium all of the insects will be kept away. j Y

In medical jurisprudence it is also well Iknown that certain medicines or compounds unless the room is kept sealed forquite a long period. With my devicedestructive vapors may be injected intothe room under 4forced circulation, and with considerable volume and rapidity so that the vapors will be actually forced into -every crack and crevice in their endeavor to get out and thus perform their destructive work much more quickly and thoroughly, and especially so if the air forced into the sealedy room is drawn from the outside and fully charged in passing through my device. This will be forclng an excess of air into the room and willl create a considerable pressure above atmosphere and will thus surely force the charged. air and destructive vapors into every crack and creviceand thus make the fumigation highly effective and will finish the operation in the minimum of time.

With such objects in view, as well as other advantages which may be incident to the use of the improvements, the invention consists inthe procedure, and in the parts .and combinations thereof hereinafter set forth andv claimed, with the understanding that the several .necessary elements constltuting the same may be carried'in'proportions and arrangement without departing from the nature of the invention. j

In order to make the lnventlon more clearly understood there are shown in the accompanying drawings means for carrying the same into practical effect, without limiting the improvements in their useful apphcations, to the particular constructions which, for the purpose of explanation, have been made the subject of illustration.

In the accompanying drawings Fig. 1 is a sectional elevation of my apparatus taken on line 1-1 of Fig. 2, and looking in the direction of the arrows. This is looking into the interior of the device and shows clearly the mechanism and its general arrangement as I have placed it to illustrate my invention.

Fig. 2 is a sectional lan taken on the irregular line 2-2 of Flg. 1, and looking in the direction of thelarrows with the various parts in the same relative positions as they appear in Fig. l. The section line is shown to pass through the' fan element but in thisligure this element has been left in full lines as better showing its location and arrangement.

' Fig. 3 is a side sectional elev'ation taken on line 3-3 of Fig. 2, and looking in the direction of the arrows. This v1ew also shows the various elements in the same general positions-as the previous figures.

Fig. 4 is a diagrammatic perspective taken approximately on line 4-4 of Fig. 3 and looking in the direction of the arrows. The object of this view is to` clearly-show the path of the air through the apparatus as indicated by arrows and is drawn in a manner to show this path as clearly as possible by neglecting to adhere strictly to the exact size, arrangement and proportion of parts as illustrated in the other views and by leaving out all mechanism so that the various compartments will be clearly seen in relation to each other and by means of the arrows the air current can be easily traced.

Fig. 5 is a detail of a specially water cooled and lubricated bearing taken inline 5 of Fig. 2 'and looking in the direction of the arrow.l The view is facing in the opposite direction to the Aplane Fig. 2.

Fig. 6 is a view in elevation of the apparatus positioned within a room' or en closure.

Y In the' drawings like numerals of reference indicate like parts of the various views.

In order to make the apparatus self contalned and of a pleasing appearance it is j preferably made up of a suitable casing y1,

in the form of a decorated cabinet, having a port of air entry 2.and a hinged door 3 for the exit of the treated air.

A rotary' blower 4, of suitable construction and size is mounted to rotate in a suitable housing 5, it is directly connected to the end of an electric motor shaft 6, driven by the motor 7, which is in turn mounted on a suitable support 8, the other end of the motor shaft 6 carries a grooved pulley 9. A circulating pump 10, is located in one corner of the casing and having a grooved ulley 11 secured to the pump shaft. T e pulleys 9 and 11 areconnected by a suitable belt 12 so that the pump will it occupies require a great amount of detail in thedrawings and would add nothing to a clear understanding of the invention. The apparatus used for carrying out the invention is ,such as is procurable in thegeneralmarket and well known by those familiar with the art. My arrangementand-combination such a mannery that the air passing there-- of thisA familiarapparatus is new as well as the results obtained'thereby. The reader is therefore re nested to have this in mind when perusing this description and thus understand the lack of-detail pertaining to the individual elements used further than is shown to make the invention intelligible.

The principal idea contained in this invention and carried into effect by the special arrangement of la paratus I have illustrated is to have a num r of compartments having intercommunicating ports arranged in through is caused to follow' a tortuous path,

- and While following such tortuous path to.

come in contact with aline spray or mist of a suitable liquid, whereby owing to the quick ,absorption4 of moisture rom/ this spray by the air its temperature is considera l lowered and its humidity increased to suc extent as may be desired. i

The arrangement of compartments is best shown in .Flgt 4 and very Well shown in Fig. 1. Air entering the port 24 goes first into compartment 13 where it is deflected downward and passes through the portv 14 in the partition 15, entering compartment 16, here it isintercepted by partition 17 which closes the lower portionl of the compartment 16, and is deflected. u ward'and passes over the top of the partit1on 17 and enters compartment 18 where it encounters partition 19, where it is deflected downward and passes through port 20 into compartment 21 where it is deflected upward and passes throu h an interrupting device that will be explained further on in the description.

Passingfrom the circulating pump 10 is a pipe line 22 going to a screened device 23 immersed 4in a liquid 24'` resting in the bottom of the casin 1, the pump when in operation draws liquid from'this source and circulates it through the pipe 25 to a series of spray units 26, 27 and 28 located in com- .partment 13. This is the compartment where the air first-enters vand by means of these three spray devices it is met by an abundance of moisture where the absorption and cooling begins to take place. It is understood of course that the movement of air through 'the device is brought about by the suction action of the rotarybloywer 4 and the Speed of circulation is controlled tinuation of Athe pipe line 25 comprises a riser 29, vconnectingwith a horizontal pipe 30 which in turnlconnects with the spray heads 31, 32 and 33 in .the compartment 21.

From the sprayhead 33 a pipe 34 extends horizontally through the air port 29 into compartment 18 where a spray head 35 is placed. A continuation o f this linev passes through partition 17 by means of the hole 17 and enters compartment 16 where the spray head 36 is'placed. This arrangement of pipes .and spray heads supplies each of the compartments through which the air is caused to circulate with a continuous source of moisture inv a inel divided state so that the passing air will a sorb a sulicient quantity to impart to itthe desired temperature and humidity, and at .the same time wash it. of any inherent impuritiesthat it may bring from the outside, including odors, dust, in-

thespeed jofregulated by suitable switches and rhepstats,

not shown, and to prevent a rapid column 'of circulating air from carrying free moisture out of the apparatus I have provided a Series of baille plates arranged in zig-zag arrangement-to intercept the column of air and'cause a bombardment of the. moisture particles against the baille plates and thus separate them and. cause them to fall back into the compartment. vThis series of baille plates'is placed in a box likestructure designated bythe numeral 37 and the baille plates 38. After the air leaves this structure it is conveyed through a hooded compartment 39 into the rotary blower 4 and is by this blower forced out of the apparatus through the blower casing 5, lthrough a shuttercontrolled opening 40 having the hinged shutters 41,"-in turn manually controlled by the` outside handle 42 and the attending con.-

nections as shown. The door 3 closes the opening 40 when the apparatus is not in operation. v

vThe motor 7, pump 10 Kand rotary blower 4 and connections are loc-ated in the top of thecasing 1 and are supported on an insulated base plate 45, which plate in turn rests -t loc lao

5 is clearly shown in this view and needs little explanation to render its action clear.

So `that recourse is hadto. the'water being i propelled bythe pump to act as lubricant and as a cooling medium. On account of the resistance of the spray heads there will be some pressure created in the pipe line and this ywill cause a leakage through the bearing, which leakage will be conveyed back into the Water compartment by mea-ns of suitable hose or a short pipe 103.

A valve 44 is provided for draining the casing 1 of its liquid contents whenever desired.

0n account ofthe liquid being carried in the bottom of the apparatus the casing 1 ispreferably made of a metal hermetically sealed at the corners and treated to prevent. rust or corrosion.

From the foregoing description it is easily seen that there are vast poibilities ahead for such an yinvention as I have shown and described, and vby making a casing cfa highly decorative nature such as is supplied,

- yfor instance, in phpnographs the apparatus can be placed in'any room and wlll tit in with any kind of individual decoration that may be desired, and since the whole operating mechanism is rotary, it will be practically noiseless and not objectionable in any manner and by regulating the speed to suit individual/desires it will producevariable results as may be required. The air circurlated may be'dra-Wn from the outside so that fresh airis constantly supplied in just the volume needed, or the air in a closed room may be circulated continuously without the addition of outside air other than the small amount that will seep in through cracks around windows and doors and in many instances such seepage will be found -suicient to give a very eiiicient ventilation where the air inthe room is kept inf circulation, because in such a case there will be quite some interchange of air, otherwise there would-soon be a considerable pressure createdin the room, the forced -circulation lwill surely cause such change which would not be 'likely to occur without such circulation. 4 Itshould now also be easily seen where the apparatus is particularly applicable to `lv4the other -uses mentioned and described, so that any o'ne' skilled-in the art will be able to construct and use the invention forany of the purposes mentioned or for any other purposes to which it may b e adapted. Under certain conditions, when 1t is desired to expedite the' emptying of the casing, the valve 451 in the pipe 25 in advance of the members 26, 27 and 28 may be operated to. interrupt the flow of g water that a,l constantly high cooling effect is obtained by the apparatus working on dry air drawn from the outside of the enclosure and forced from the chambers into the enclosure. This positioning of the apparatus insures a constant supply tothe enclosure of external air for cooling and ventilating and overcomes the objection when small capacity apparatus is placed within an enclosure and the operatlon 'of which vcauses the enclosure airto become saturated in a very short while thus destroying further cooling action of the apparatus on the enclosure air.

I claim: a 1. A portable ,unit air cooling andv humidifying device, comprising a casing provided with air inlet and discharge openings, a plurality of spaced partitions therein dividing the same into a continuous air duct within the casing'and connecting the air inlet and discharge openings, -a base plate disposed transversely within the upper portion of the casing forming an open topped chamber inthe upper .end of the casing, and affording a top/wall for a portion 'of said duct, an air blower within the duct and located above said base plate, a liquid circulating pump supported'upon said base plate, an electric motor supported on the base plate andl connected for operating said pump and blower, a body of liquid within said'casing, a system of pipes and' nected. with said pump and body ofliquid whereby the air in said passage is cooled and humidiied, and a cover for said open topped chamber, said pump and motor adapted for exposing on 'the removal of said -cover'rom said chamber.

2. A portableunit air cooling and humidifyingdevice, comprising a casing povided with air inlet and discharge openings, a'plurality of spaced partitions therein dividing the s ame into a continuous circuitous air duct within the casing/and connecting the air inlet and discharge openings, a base plate disposed transversely within 'the upper portion of lthe 'casing formingan open topped 'chamber in the upper end of the casing, and affording a top wall for a portion of said duct, an air blower within the duct and located above said base plate, aliquid circulating'pump supported upon said base plate, an electric motor supported on the base plate and connected for operating said pump and blower, a body of liquid within said c in a system of pipes and spray heads lt in said air duct and connected with said pum and \body of' liquid whereby t'he air in sai passage is cooled and humidified, and 'a cover for said open topped chamber, said ump and motor adapted for exposing on t e re-` moval of said cover from said chamber` ltwithout interfering with the lflow of air through the duct.

pose, the combhaton with a portablecasing, of meanstherein for moving a column of air, a series of interconnected compartt ments therein through which `said air is moved over a tortuous path, an electric motor, liquid spray-ing means operated thereby and including a pump andalso" in-"- cluding piping and spray heads 'in said'interconnectedcompartments, for providing va spray through which said air passes an becomes cooled and humidiiied, a plurality of bales within said compartments against which the entire body of humidied air is directed prior todiSChargingvfrom the apparatus and after assing the last liquid spray means where y surplus .moisture is ing a casin removed therefrom, a cover for the-Casin adapted to open to expose .the motor an pump without interrupting the passage of air through said compartments. 1' 4. A portable unit device for producing and delivering a continuous supply of treated air to a roomror cpmpartment comprishaving* air' inlet and outlet means a series of verticall dis oseds aced partitions within said casing ividing the same interiorly into av lurality fofcomthrong .partments connectedX to orm aI continuous tortuous path within the casing'extending from the inlet to the Ioutlet means, a rotary fan element cpnnectedwitli said tortuous path and adapted to draw air through.`

said inlet, to circulate it through said tortuous ath and force it.'from said casing sa'id outlet, a source of air `treati'iigmedium `within said casing, means for bringing'-said .medium into intimate contact withgsaidg air by directing the' medium againstthe direction of travel of the air through oneof' said compartments while .said air is circulatingwithiny saidj'casing 3. In an appartus for the described pur-i' whereby said air is ltreated and charged through contactwith said medium.

.5. portable unit device for producing and delivering a continuous supply of treated air toa room or compartment, comprising a casing having air inlet :and outlet means, a series of spaced partitions within said casing 'dividin the same into a plurality of connecte chambers so arranged as to form a continuous tortuous path through said casingF extending from.

said air inlet to said air outlet, a rotary fan or blower' located in said path through vsaid casing and adapted to draw air into path and eject it from 6. A portable unit air cooling.V and hu-A midifying device, comprising a casing having inlet andl outlet means, a series of spaced partitions within said casing dividing the saine into communicating, chambers forming a. continuous tortuous air passage I.therethrough between said inlet 'and outlet means, a rotary air blower within said passage near the outlet means, a rotary liquid circulating pump, an.: electric motor adapted to operate the saidrotary air blower and -the said liquid circulating pump, abody of .liquid in said casing, a system of 'ipes and spray heads in circuit lwith sai pump, whereby through `the operation of said pump the said liquid is' converted into-a spray -within thearea of said tor--4 1 uid contained withthrough said casing .and therebytuous air passage whereby'air insa. id pas- T.

` sage is cooled and humidifed, Asaid motor and pump being positioned exteriorly of the air lpassage` and readily accessible through t e top of the .casing without interrupting the circulation .of air said passage.

In testimony whereof I have signed. my name te this specification.

- ALBERT D. LANE.'

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